


A Type of Heaven

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Demons, F/M, Fights, Magic, Reunions, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: It’s been twenty some years since Buffy had seen him and she never expected to find him in Boston where she and Willow have tracked a monster who delights in killing activists and stirring protests into violence.
Relationships: Angel/Buffy Summers
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RingThoughSpace](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=RingThoughSpace).



> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, Joss Whedon owns it
> 
> **Notes:** Written for Eydis for Fandom Trumps Hate 2020. Thank you for trusting me to write you a story. I hope you enjoy it.

_Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven. - Tryon Edwards_

Chapter One

Angel took his blood out of the microwave and sat down at his computer with it. In many ways he still preferred a newspaper but he’d been laughed at a few too many times for being old fashioned so he got his news like most people these days. He enjoyed the quiet of the house for a few moments before he grew bored of it. He’d been alone in the rambling old thing on the edge of Boston for weeks now. He missed hearing Connor and Faith and all the noise of their sparring and arguing in their home, which had become the de facto ‘Watchers’ complex’ for New England. How the hell he ended up as the ‘Watcher’ was anyone’s guess.

Okay, he didn’t really have to guess. Over the past two decades, Faith had refused an actual Watcher. According to Faith, Angel had saved her from herself, well at least in part. As far as he was concerned, Faith saved Faith. She wanted him to be her ‘book guy,’ and he was good at it. Connor had gotten decent at it himself even if he preferred action but right now, Connor and Faith were both in Cape Breton helping a Canadian Slayer with something devouring campers. Angel wondered if his son was dragging things out. Connor had always enjoyed the woods as if the wildness called to him. Faith, on the other hand, was probably complaining loudly. Regardless, he missed them. Faith was his connection to the other Slayers, to Buffy even though he hadn’t seen her in all these years. Angel still liked hearing about her exploits even if they had their own lives now.

Sipping the warmed blood, Angel read over the local headlines on the Boston Herald’s website. He scowled, seeing another mysterious death of a woman. Was this the third or fourth time he’d read a similar headline in the last few weeks? Erin Saul had been a pretty teen with dark curly hair and pale skin. In one of the pictures she was dressed in a red hooded cloak he recognized as being from _The Handmaid’s Tale_. He read what little there was about her life in the article; mostly that she was a student at the University of Boston and well-loved. Angel wrinkled his brow and searched around for some older articles. There it was, another young woman from the same university who had been killed also ‘mysteriously,’ whatever that meant. Granted, it was a huge university in a large city. It could be coincidence. 

Angel didn’t believe in those anymore. He glanced toward the staircase leading out of his basement apartment, and then to the clock on his screen. It was another hour before he could go outside. Once the sun went down, he had some people he could talk to. Something about this felt off and with the Slayer gone, it fell to him to check it out. Angel smiled ferally. Faith and his son weren’t the only one who liked a good fight.

XXX

Alsop loved college campuses, so much energy to ingest: alcoholic highs, lust, joy, the competition of sports, the fear of failure, the pain of attacks – physical or sexual - all those things and more swirled around any campus the demon had ever stepped a toe onto. While he could drink in any sort of energy but the tastiest were fear and anger. He could find those anywhere these days but colleges were hot spots for them. The young had such energy and many had the willingness to work toward change especially the kind that brought happiness to the world.

Alsop wasn’t into that sort of change. He liked oppression and all the angst it stirred, but when those fighting for change slammed up against the old guard, it created a delicious brew. Non-violent protests had energy sure but when he could tip it into violence, how much better was that?

Some days the demon preferred to just pick off one or two from the protesting herd, drain them down to the last drop and toss their carcass aside or he’d get inside them, make them attack others or slip into a do-gooder and pull them apart from the inside. Other times, he’d stir the pot until it didn’t just boil; it exploded like the A-bomb. How sad was he that he’d missed the original bombs dropped over Japan? He’d been in Germany at the time, drinking down all the pain and suffering there, getting fat off of it.

He followed another young woman as she joined a group of pro-choice protestors forming a human tunnel to shield women trying to get into a woman’s center. The pro-lifers screamed such horrible things at them all. Alsop slipped into their minds. It would only take a few tweaks here and there before signs they brandished became bludgeons. Oh, what fun he’d have today.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Buffy yawned, hearing a pop in her ears. She and Willow had been going over incident reports for over an hour and she was ready for bed. She had a modicum of understanding of how it had been for Giles in those earliest of days. She wasn’t quite as old as he had been then but she was definitely older, hopefully wiser. Two decades had passed since the big spell had been cast, since Sunnydale had fallen into the earth. Her body had begun to feel those years, but not as much as her friends, probably a little of the Slayer magic or whatever one wanted to call it. She didn’t like to label it the demony bit of herself because it wasn’t accurate anyhow.

“I think there is a pattern,” Willow said.

“You’ve said that before.” They had tracked this potential pattern from Seattle to Denver to Chicago to Cleveland. “It’s more definite now though, isn’t it?”

Willow’s short red hair flapped like wings as she nodded. “We’re seeing the same thing, an escalation of violence around anything dealing with women’s, LGBT, religious and immigrant rights. Peaceful protests becoming suddenly violent and very active protestors and organizers turning up exceedingly dead.”

“But can we be sure that it’s demonic? People can be hateful and violent,” Buffy said as if Willow being a gay Jewish woman turned witch didn’t already know that. Other than being a recent immigrant, she checked every box on the hate groups check list. So much so Buffy would worry about bringing her along if her friend wasn’t as powerful as she was. Willow could be downright terrifying

“We can’t but it makes sense because this seems to be moving about, mostly from one liberal big city to another. Cleveland has a Hellmouth, which brought us here now. We could be chasing phantoms but you and I have gotten on the trail. I think we should follow it.”

“And Boston is seeing the same level of escalation as Cleveland did.”

“Not to mention it’s tapered off here.”

Buffy grimaced “Faith could handle it.”

“She’s in Canada with Connor,” Willow replied. “Boston’s wide open right now.”

Buffy wet her lips. She had only met up with Angel’s son once before deciding it was all too much for her. Let Faith deal with him. She had purposefully let both Angel and Spike filter away. Her heart hadn’t been able to handle it when she was younger. Now Buffy regretted it but didn’t know quite how to reach out. Giles and Willow both kept tabs on the vampires a little but neither Angel nor Spike felt any strong urges to check in with them. Last she heard Angel had gone back to LA after a stint in Dublin. Spike had gone to Las Vegas doing god knew what.

Trailing a hand through her hair, Buffy nodded. “So we’re off to Boston. Let’s see how we can divide up some of these other incidents and put the other Slayers to work.” She worked up a smile but couldn’t quite feel it. For some reason, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and Buffy had a bad feeling about all of this.

XXX

As he looked around the university campus’s quad, Angel thought it was too bad Connor had missed out on a lot of college life. He had gotten his degree but he had missed a lot of the extracurriculars helping Angel and Spike and the others fight the evil. Hell, at this point Angel wished he’d been born three hundred years after he had been so he could have enjoyed this himself.

Among the packs of young people talking and obviously having a good time was a knot of people garnering attention. Angel drifted their way. Most of them were women, and he saw signs reading Take Back the Night. For a wild moment he thought it was a group of Slayers, and he’d best be going back the way he came. Buffy, Faith, and their friends had informed the network of new Slayers that he, Spike, and Connor, in spite their demony side, were good guys but he still didn’t fully trust them all. Neither did his son nor Spike. Better safe than a pile of dust.

Taking a moment to listen in, Angel realized what this group was about: protesting domestic violence and rape while aiming to do something about it. He watched them from a distance, thinking how ironic it was that his conscious sympathies were definitely with them while the demon inside him was plenty happy to commit either offense. A wave of self-loathing rose up in him and as Angel was riding it out, he noticed a group of young men cat calling them, making lewd comments. He wondered how soon campus security or the police were called in. Maybe one of the women would slam a sign up between their legs like they so rightfully deserved. 

Other than there had been some violence nearby the night before, Angel saw nothing out of the ordinary tonight other than people being ugly when emboldened by being in a group of likeminded fools. He wasn’t sure the Take Back the Night group would want him to interfere. Sometimes Angel had issues determining whether something was chivalrous or just plain patronizing. While he was debating running the idiot men off or pushing off to go find something more capable of pulling apart a human being like the girl who had died yesterday had been killed, Angel caught wind of something.

The cloying smell of decaying lilies and flesh filled his nose, transporting him back to an earlier time when he was alive. He knew exactly why funeral flowers got their start, covering the smells of decay in the days before embalming. That was the smell riding the wind now and he could see no reason at all for the sudden stench. Angel moved in the direction of the scent, drawing him closer to the Take Back the Night group.

One of the young men grabbed for one of the girls, catching hold of her shirt. His buddies whooped, egging him on. Her friends tore at his hands, yanking her away from him. Angel ran, reaching in to grab the guy even as his friends swore and made their own grabs for the protestors. 

He pulled the guy closer, almost gagging on the sickly-sweet perfume of lilies and decay. The boy’s face twisted in a rictus and something slipped against Angel’s skin; no inside him. Something had tried to enter him but seemed to think better of it. A gray miasma filtered away from the teenager and the scent went with it. It flew high above the trees and was gone. The boy shook his head, looking dazed.

Realizing the boy had been possessed, Angel shoved him away lightly so not to break bone but hard enough to let him know he was in imminent danger. “Get out of here. Leave them alone,” Angel said with a growl in his voice to get the kid’s attention.

The young man wasted no time. He ran. His buddies looked between him and the women’s group before following him. Angel sensed the shift in energy, as if all the anger in the air had dissipated with the miasma. He gave the woman a sharp nod before leaving them. He had no idea what it was he had just encountered but he’d better go back and put in some research. If there was something out there forcing people to act on their worst, most base thoughts, it needed to be stopped. Angel worried he alone, might not be enough, not if this thing possessed a lot of magic. He was going to need help.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

“I had dreams of moving out here when I was younger, before I ever met you,” Willow told Buffy as they strolled through Cambridge doing a little recon. They had arrived in Boston the day before. They had spent the plane ride reading over the autopsy reports Willow had hacked into. Four women had been all but eviscerated in the last three weeks and reports of random violence were up. Buffy wondered if they were in time this go around or like in the last few cities they had arrived in town after whatever it was had moved on.

“Really? All the way to the other coast.” She rubbed her arms. Her thin jacket seemed inadequate to the cool early autumn wind. Even though she had spent many years traveling, Buffy remained at heart a warm weather Southern California girl.

Willow pointed to a girl across the street in a crimson shirt. “Harvard. You have no idea just how much I wanted to attend there.”

Buffy stared at the cracked sidewalk. Even here, with so much wealth in the surrounding neighborhood, the sidewalks weren’t pristine. Better to contemplate that than the guilt she felt over the fact that her friend had given up so many of her dreams to help Buffy in her own nightmare existence. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Oh, no! No, I didn’t mean it that way, Buffy. I’m not sad about how my life turned out,” Willow said but Buffy would always wonder. Willow could have been somewhere safe, maybe married to some woman or some guy, maybe have a kid or two. She might have been in IT, leading a perfectly normal life. Willow gave her a quick one-armed hug.

“I am,” Buffy admitted.

“I’ve gotten to do and see things most people have no idea even exist.” Willow wrinkled her nose. “Some of it I wish I didn’t know about too, I guess but still, I have a pretty awesome life.”

“What did you want to go to Harvard for?”

“That changed weekly.” Willow chuckled. “Probably biology or chemistry. I did, of course, also dream of going to MIT or Cal-Tech for computers. I dreamed big.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“Nothing wrong with small dreams either. Anyhow, think we’ll have time to stroll through Harvard’s campus just to see some of the museums they have? It seems like a waste of time not to.”

Buffy never had the endless capacity for taking in museums that Willow did but she nodded regardless. Given everything Willow had given up for her, going to a museum seemed like such a minor thing. “We’ll make a point of it. Did you hear from Giles?”

“Not yet. I looked over the news articles about these deaths, or at least the ones online. Mary Wiseman and Ellen Frazier were both highly active in women’s rights, free birth control things like that. Lori Barlow was the head of a local LGBT group on Boston University’s campus and Alya Bousaid was Muslim and active in charity outreach.” 

“So basically, decent people trying to do the right thing,” Buffy said. The chill this time had nothing to do with her thin jacket.

“And someone or something doesn’t want them to. It’s the same pattern we’ve been seeing,” Willow replied, pausing in front of a store front. She peered in at the lovely jewelry on display, all of it Buffy was sure was way out of their price range. That didn’t stop her from wanting that lovely sapphire bracelet.

“I still have the nagging feeling it might not be entirely something supernatural. People can be completely crappy,” Buffy said thinking of Parker, of her father and of all those who had let her down.

“I had thoughts on that. I’ve been working on a spell that’s sort of a magical sniffer. The idea is that it’ll let me know if magic had been used in the area.” 

“That will be very helpful. Have you tried it?” Buffy asked.

Willow bobbed her head. “Hannah and I have given it a try. It seems like it would.”

Buffy smiled. Hannah, another witch, was a lot of fun and she was happy to see Willow in a good healthy relationship. “Shall we give it a try?”

“It will work better at night but absolutely.”

Buffy hoped it would make quick work of this. No one else needed to die.

XXX 

Ellen Frazier had been found ripped open and left like trash near the hedges bordering a large reddish building that reminded Buffy of an old English manor house. The School of Public Health, she wondered if maybe Willow would have ended up in a place like this if not for her. Buffy shut the thought down. It was unfair and unkind. Willow said she was happy and she should believe that.

Raised voices alerted them both. Buffy turned, trying to find the source. On the grassy expanse in front of the building several people cowered away from a pack of women menacing them. Buffy would remain forever somehow disappointed in herself that she never got the ‘Spidey sense’ some Slayers did when it came to picking up on vampires but then again, she rarely needed it. She knew them when she saw them. 

Willow clenched her fists. She started to chant something in a language Buffy didn’t know as Buffy raced to the rescue. Buffy crossed the grassy field quickly, grabbing the first vampire before she even knew someone was coming. Through her dust, Buffy took a head count, at least eight vampires. Wow, it was rare to see a group this big. Vampires weren’t great at sharing or working together, at least not in her experience. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d hoped.

“Run!” she yelled to the students, hoping they weren’t too paralyzed with fear to do so. She knew, though, it might split the group of vampires up. In one way that would be less for her to deal with at once but it could cost a civilian life or two if she wasn’t careful.

“Look at you, riding to the rescue,” one of the blonde vampires mocked her.

“Did you not see me just turn one of you to dust?” Buffy struck at her and she dodged clumsily. Buffy assumed she was new to being a vampire, not that it mattered. Her second blow struck home and she backed away from the explosion of dust.

She heard Willow’s incantation and a small, controlled fireball flew over Buffy’s head, slamming hard into a vampire coming up on her blind side. Buffy ran after another of the vampire women, a slender Asian who had a young man by the arm, trying to pull him close, in spite of Buffy’s presence. Did someone turn a sorority or something and recently? Buffy knew Willow wouldn’t have missed something like that when she was doing her research. She kicked the vampire away from the young man, firmly establishing herself as a target. However, the young man plowed into her in a blind panic and they both tumbled to the ground.

As Buffy tried to get him off of her and her feet back on the ground, the vampire loomed over her, fangs out, ready for the feast and then suddenly she was gone. Buffy coughed as the dust rained down on her. She looked up expecting to see Willow. Instead there was no mistaking the broad shoulders of the man holding out a hand to her.

“Angel!”

“Hello, Buffy.” He smiled and hauled her up.

“Thanks.”

“Hey Angel.” Willow waved enthusiastically.

“Nice to see you, Willow.”

Together, with Willow, they made short work of the remaining vampires. The word ‘Slayer’ was never uttered. It made her wonder.

“They didn’t seem to know what I am,” she mused.

“Some vampires just make new vampires and run. They don’t take the time to mentor them. They’re just in it for the chaos,” Angel said. It was something Buffy knew happened but she thought it was a dumb idea. The demon inside them at least seemed to sense being cautious was better than calling attention to itself. “Darla was a traditionalist, sort of indoctrinated the rest of us.” He gestured to the intended victims. “Is everyone okay?”

To no one’s surprise, the victims took off running, with only one girl yelling thanks as she went. They might not be able to process exactly what happened but they knew they had come close to dying and they wanted out of here and be back somewhere they felt safe.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you both, but what are you doing in Boston?” Angel asked as Buffy dusted herself off.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. I thought you were on the west coast,” Buffy said, feeling a little bad about it now that she hadn’t bothered to keep in touch. Seeing Angel, hearing the deep richness of his voice, she regretted that choice even though she knew it had been the right one at the time.

“I came out here to be with Connor. He and Faith needed a hand, so they said. My son isn’t a very… let’s just leave it as he’s not good with relationships and companionship,” Angel said. Buffy knew they had a tumultuous relationship at best. “When he wanted me around I jumped at the chance.”

“I don’t blame you. Actually, we’re here because we’ve been tracking something. In fact, right over there a young woman was left dead.” Buffy pointed. “Willow thinks she has a spell that will allow her to track magic or at least let her know if something was here.”

“I was about to try it out when we spotted the merry band of vampires,” Willow said. “Want to see if it works?”

“Of course.” 

Angel followed them to the spot without another question, just like they had been together only yesterday and not two decades ago. He stood next to Buffy watching Willow work. Buffy wondered from time to time if Slayers should learn magic too. It seems like it would be helpful. She considered it thinking the Watchers should have tried it. Maybe they had. She’d have to ask Giles but deep down, Buffy suspected they hadn’t. Generations of Watchers had treated Slayers as nothing more than weapons. They were disposable people really, one fell and another rose. She shuddered in spite of the fact the night was warm and the action drew Angel’s attention. Still he said nothing. Maybe, like her, he was wondering what to say after all this time.

Willow stopped her little chant, glancing around, a small frown on her lips. Nothing happened. Maybe she had been wrong. Buffy could almost feel her disappointment but then a faint blue glow settled over the nearby hedges. It didn’t lead anywhere but it proved something had happened.

“Is that a positive test?” Angel asked when no one spoke up.

“It is. It shows something magical happened. I was hoping for more.” Willow sighed.

“Still, at least you know you were right. We’re following a demon and not just random purely human violence,” Buffy said. 

“I know but…I was hoping for a trail. I guess it’s been several days since Ellen was killed. Maybe if we had tried sooner.”

Buffy set her jaw hating the thought in her head. “I’m betting we’ll have the opportunity.”

“Yeah,” Willow shook her head. “Why don’t I go bring Hannah up to speed and see if she has any ideas for fine tuning the spell and you can catch Angel up on why we’re here, Buffy?”

Willow jogged off before Buffy could mount a response. Buffy narrowed her eyes at Willow’s back. She knew a set up when she saw it. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to do just what Willow suggested. She turned to Angel and asked, “You live around here. Know any place we can sit and catch up?”

“Coffee, dinner, or alcohol?”

“I think we might need alcohol.” Buffy smiled and he snorted.

A ten-minute walk later they were in an Irish bar, naturally between his cultural pride and the fact that a good chunk of Boston was every bit as Irish and proud of it. Buffy ordered an appetizer and a cider. He got a beer which almost surprised her. Spike liked to drink and eat; Angel not so much.

“It’s been too long,” she said knowing it was on his mind but he might be too uncertain to bring it up. She’d asked for space and he’d given it to her. His eyes widened but he said nothing. “I know it’s all my fault.”

“I wouldn’t say fault. You had reasons. I tried to respect them.”

“And you did and I appreciate it but…I did miss you.” She said that directly to the table but caught his smile out of her peripheral vision.

“I missed you too.”

“So, I suppose we should get work out of the way first,” she said hurriedly. Work was safe. Work wouldn’t trample hearts…well at least not as much. “Willow and I have been following a trail of broken people from Seattle through the Midwest and now we’re here. Protesters, especially of women and gay rights, have been killed and protests gone extremely violent. We had one city where someone plowed a car into the protestors and afterward had no memory of doing so. His friends said he was a little conservative but basically a good dude who would never have done such a thing, only he had. I thought it could be just humans being humans.”

“It certainly wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for us to be violent.” Angel slugged back some of his beer. “But I’m also betting you found some of the murders to be extremely violent and that made you wonder.”

“Honestly, Willow more than me. I think she has a rosier picture of humanity than I do,” Buffy said, shocked by the little frown on his face. His disappointment took her by surprise. “But I also know to listen to Willow. You seem to know something about this, Angel.”

“I had the same thoughts as you really at first, especially the violence at the protests. Gangs of people will act very differently than they would on their own. I’ve made use of that for both good and evil over the years.” He drank more of his dark brown beer. “I could write that off but the singular deaths struck me as worth checking out. With Connor and Faith in Canada at the moment, I thought I’d investigate.”

Buffy leaned against the wooden table, feeling its imperfections under her finger tips. “Have you learned anything?”

“Yes, and I’m glad to have you and Willow here. I was thinking of calling her or Giles anyhow. Faith has been leaving the book work to me and Connor but all three of us are the punch it in the face types.” He sighed softly. “I miss Wes and Fred.”

Buffy knew that Faith’s former Watcher had become far less of a prat as Giles and Spike would say when he was working with Angel. She knew he hadn’t survived Los Angeles’s descent to and reappearance from Hell. Fred had become Illyria even before that. Angel’s losses made her feel even guiltier about staying out of touch for so long. “I’m sure.”

She paused as a waitress put her plate of bacon curry fries down. The spicy scent of it tickled her nose. Buffy pushed it between her and Angel knowing he was unlikely to take one. 

“Anyhow, I went investigating, came across a Take Back the Night event. I looked it up later and it was exactly what I thought it was, a group of both survivors and those looking to prevent domestic violence and rape. Some idiot young men were harassing them but then it got ugly, physical.”

“And you intervened.” Buffy popped one of the fries into her mouth, fanning it from both the heat of the spice and the fresh from the fryer temperature. 

“I smelled something I’ve not smelled in a long time, Buffy. It was like a Victorian funeral, all dying lilies and decay.” Angel made a face and to her surprise snaked a fry from the platter. When she eyed him, he shrugged. “Faith and Connor ride me if I don’t try to keep up appearances. And those fries are good. Faith especially likes them.”

“Ah, well good,” she said, not surprised he came here with her Sister Slayer. “Did you find anything weird to go with that smell?”

“Very weird. A black mist came out of the most aggressive boy and I could have sworn it regarded me long and hard before it zoomed up into the sky and moved off. It was some sort of entity but I have no idea what. I’ve never encountered anything like it. That’s what I wanted to talk to Giles or Willow about.”

Buffy nodded. “And if this thing is non-corporeal what then?”

“Another good question for our resident Watchers. Faith puts that on me and Connor. My son is getting better at it but the honest truth is…” he made a face. 

“You’re more like Slayers than Watchers.” 

“Exactly. I have the experience but not with this. I have never seen it or smelled an entity like it, not that that means much. There is so much out there and back in the evil days, I only had time for things that would help me which unsurprisingly even though we might have had the same twisted goals, sharing was not a thing we did much of.”

Buffy shoved another fry into her mouth to help get the bitter taste out from the reminder of what Angel had been once. “That’s a long time ago,” she said even though he’d gone evil once or twice since. She considered those not really his fault and Angel had paid for it. 

He shrugged. “Anyhow, I’m not going to be much help at identifying it right off.”

“Maybe not but that is still a help. Willow and I have uncovered news articles that said the perpetrators of the violence weren’t normally violent. Whatever the lily-smelling thing is, it might be tipping them over the edge. That’s a good piece of the puzzle but could it also be what’s pulling the protestors apart?”

“Some demons have more than one form as you well know so it’s possible. It’s the same sort of target, isn’t it? That’s what I thought at least just looking at the local news.”

Buffy nodded. “It is. I don’t like any part of this, Angel. Non-corporeal things are always a bitch to fight.”

“When we have the Watchers looking things up, we’ll ask them see if there are binding spells or ways to force it into its physical form and keep it there.” Angel took another fry. “Speaking of Watchers, how is Dawn doing?”

Buffy smiled, glad he’d asked. “She’s doing fine. She’s in Tokyo right now. They had a spate of yokai running rampant and she went to help out. I’m still not comfortable with her being on the front lines but what can I do? She’s turning out to be as good a witch as Willow and who can blame her? Willow and Giles have been training her for years now.”

“I know how you feel. I tried to make it so Connor was safe. Didn’t work and he’s happier with being able to help fight the darkness. Whatever else Holtz was, whatever he did, he definitely instilled that in Connor. I suppose it’s a good thing with his abilities.”

Buffy nodded. He could have been another early Faith or any of the other few Slayers who had decided their abilities were best used to further their own dreams of riches and power. She stared at her food. They had exhausted the work talk and she still had more to eat. Did she walk away now or did she talk and catch up with an old friend even though it did feel a little like walking in a minefield without a map? She decided on talking. “How are you liking Boston?”

He sat back a bit, surprised by the change of topic. “I really like it, well maybe not the winters so much but it’s an interesting city and we have an old home here, with a roomy basement I’ve converted as a living space. It’s a big place. If you and Willow want to save on hotel fees, there are plenty of bedrooms. It was designed for other Slayers to come and stay.”

Buffy hadn’t known that. Had Willow? They had decentralized the Watchers and the east coast group’s nearest stronghold was in New York City. They would be the ones dealing with Faith more than Giles. “I appreciate the offer. I’ll talk it over with Willow. We’ve already paid for tonight so we’ll stay there.”

“Sounds good.”

“And Angel…” Buffy trailed off, unsure of what to say next. “I’m not sure why I’ve let it go for so long. I know you’ve been good about giving me space like I asked. I want to thank you for that but I shouldn’t have just dropped out like I did. It wasn’t fair.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” he replied, more gracious than she imagined. Angel could be jealous in the past. His feelings were surprisingly tender sometimes. She expected more hurt.

“Oh?”

“You were a teenager when we met, Buffy. No one is the same person they were when they were a teen, at least I’d like to think that.” Angel spread his hands. “You have your own life, apart from mine or Spike’s or even Willow and the rest of your friends. Would I have liked to have been in touch? Yes. I missed you but I’ve also had my own life, too. Friends sometimes drift apart. Couples even more so.”

“But they can drift back together again, can’t they?” Suddenly Buffy didn’t want anything to do with her fries.

Angel smiled softly. “They can. There are couples who marry, divorce, and marry again. I’m not sure that ever works that well but I’ve never considered you as _not_ being a friend. You’ve seen the ugliness in me and didn’t back away. I can count the number of good people who’ve done that on my fingers. I am now and have always been your friend.”

Buffy arched her eyebrows. “Did you just quote Spock at me?”

Angel widened his eyes. “I’m surprised you know that!”

She snorted. “Xander is my friend, remember? He’s a geek.”

“So is my son, shockingly enough. He’s rubbed off on me a little. I guess you can say I’ve been taking an interest in what he likes.”

“That’s more than my father ever did so kudos.” She polished off her cider. “I’ve really missed sitting down and talking to you.” Buffy missed more than that. She missed curling up against his broad, cool body. She missed the sweet sounds of his voice as he read her poetry. Funny since she never was much for poetry and both of her vampires – because she definitely considered them hers after a fashion – were into it. Buffy missed his art and knowing he’d be there when she needed him. Now that she thought about it, even with her string of Watchers and other Slayers as lovers, the last two decades had felt very empty, like an echo chamber minus its voice. Now that Angel was here again, she felt the vibrations inside her.

“It’ll be a new sort of friendship,” she said. “We’re definitely not the same people we were all those years ago.” She was now the matriarch of an army of Slayers. She had her heart broken, healed and rebroken. He had done the same in that regard. Hell, he was a parent and she had been good as to Dawn even if most days she thought she had messed it up.

“As I said, few people are. I have always wanted to be there if you needed me. But maybe it’s less about needing me. You are beyond capable. It’s more about wanting me.”

“I definitely want you as a friend but right now I think we better finish up here and touch base with Willow and Giles. We have something out there killing people and you’re the one who might actually have seen it.”

Angel smiled. “Of course.”

XXX

Alsop always enjoyed riling up a protest crowd until it exploded but he’d done that the last few nights. It was time for another favorite pastime, the good old possess and destroy. He had many likely candidates. He liked to pick the most innocent or even better the most well intentioned and send them into his inner hell before literally shredding them from the inside out.

He followed a young lady in his noncorporal form. At best she’d think he was a cloud of cigarette smoke or truck exhaust. This young lady had wasted her evening tutoring under privileged inner-city kids who couldn’t be less like her in terms of social status or skin color. Alsop supposed this eased her guilt at having more or whatever it was that drove the do-gooders. He didn’t care about their motives. He only cared about how much he could make them suffer.

Once she walked into a more secluded area, Alsop struck, slipping into her skin. He curled up in her brain, feeding her rage and hate. He suckled on her confusion and panic as the foreign thoughts filled her. He rode that delicious wave of fear until she finally cracked like an acorn under a car wheel. Bored at that point, Alsop started on the bloody work of rending her apart. As her ribs popped and her screams danced on the night wind, Alsop rejoiced, the entirety of him shivering with glee.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Buffy wasn’t surprised to find every window on the first floor of the old home covered not only by blinds with the slats turned tight but by black out curtains too. Angel had prepared the house for her and Willow’s arrival before he’d gone to bed. At noon, they made their way over there even though they had only gotten about six hours of sleep. They were used to lacking in that department.

When they arrived, Angel had a pot of coffee waiting for them. Buffy took in all the antiques in the home and knew exactly who ruled the roost here. There was no way Faith went in for this sort of thing. She had to admit Angel had a keen eye for decorating.

“Let’s see your library,” Willow said as soon as she had a cup of coffee in hand. “Any books specializing in non-corporeal beings?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I was hoping you would have some yourself.” Angel beckoned for them to follow. 

Buffy wasn’t surprised to see a library that would have made Giles proud. Angel had always liked books and she had liked him reading to her. She had enjoyed the soft cadence of his voice as he read her poetry. Suddenly in her head, she was a teenager again. It was a pity she couldn’t look back on those days with much fond nostalgia. High school had been hard emotionally for so many reasons and Angel was part of that.

“Wow, this is great. I know Faith said you had a lot of books but I didn’t imagine….” Willow spun a slow circle taking it all in.

“I stole most of them from Wolfram and Hart.” He shrugged. “And I know they stole or bought a lot of these from the Watchers. I suppose I should have given some of them back to Giles but he seemed happy enough I was using them to help Faith and anyone who wants to use them can just contact me.”

“What do you have in the way of categorizing all of these?”

“Nothing much.” Angel’s shoulders drooped and a hint of pity touched Buffy. She could see it in his eyes again just how much he missed Wesley and Fred. Gunn too, she was sure, but Faith had never explained much about what had happened there. “Mostly if it’s about demons it’s over there.” He waved a hand at one wall. “Magic is on that side and in the middle is everything else. I wish Faith was a bit more open to the idea of having a Watcher but I know why she isn’t. What can I do to help?”

Willow shrugged. “You already made the coffee so I guess what’s left to do is start dragging down the books and hunting for it. I’ll Zoom Giles shortly. He might have ideas.”

“You said this mist regarded you before taking off,” Buffy said. “That might help us narrow things down.” 

“It did. It felt like it almost tried to get inside me.” Angel curled his lip, rubbing his chest.

Buffy scowled. “You didn’t mention that last night.”

He widened his eyes. “I didn’t? I was a little…nervous,” he added in a whisper and it softened her. “But yes, that’s what it felt like.”

“Like Eyghon?” Buffy mused.

He nodded. “Only it seemed to recognize what I was and flew off. It might be smarter than Eyghon in that regard.”

“That definitely helps to narrow things down,” Willow said. “We should try my spell again tonight as well to see if some of the fine tuning I did works.”

“Any chance these books have a handy dandy table of contents like a text book?” Buffy made a face knowing the likely answer.

“Why make it easy?” Willow shrugged.

“Exactly.” Buffy sighed and went to grab four books off the shelf. 

Angel put on a little music, classical of course, and they all got down to coffee and reading. Buffy always felt a wave of gratitude for Giles and Willow when she had to sit down to the book work herself. She never had gotten a taste for it. She could see the need for a division of labor but right now there was just the three of them.

Willow and Angel poured over the books. Once upon a time, Buffy might have stared at Angel over the edge of her book, only pretending to read. While still highly aware he was there, she still dove deep into her book. Maybe that’s what adulthood was about. He was right. They weren’t the same people they had been two decades ago. If he was thinking about her – and Buffy would bet he was – she couldn’t tell.

She skimmed through the pages, thinking about Willow and Jenny’s early plan to scan these things into the computer. She wondered if they would ever try that again because a word search on mist demon would be helpful right about now. Nothing she skimmed past seemed to be that sort of thing and to be honest she was mostly going off the pictures. 

“Willow, has anyone gone back to your idea of scanning in books?” she asked after a half hour of stumbling through her book and onto the next one.

“Some have been. Would you rather work on that?” Willow asked. “I started looking a little last night but there are a couple of data bases.”

“Maybe one of us should,” Buffy said, rather pleased to have an out.

“We’re almost up to the time I told Giles we’d Zoom him,” Willow said. “Once we’re done with that, we can give it a try for you.”

Buffy nodded. Giles, pleased to see them even if a little less pleased to see Angel even after all these years, threw himself into helping with abandon. Even as he started listing out some possibilities and books they could check, Buffy found her attention wandering to his even thinner hair and his growing collection of wrinkles. She hated he had gotten old but at least that meant he was still human.

“Could we be looking at more than one demon?” she asked once there was a lull in his lecture. “Or do you think there is just the one traveling as Willow thought?”

“Given how similar the victims are, I’d guess it is just the one. These sorts of creatures tend to be solitary and rare if it’s any of the ones I’m thinking of,” he replied. “I’m very leery about the idea it can possess people. It might be only Angel is safe if the thing took one look at his own demon and ran off.”

Buffy folded her arms and shifted her weight. “So, you think it could get inside me or Willow?”

“You wouldn’t be immune.” Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief. “And I can’t say lead with Angel because you have no idea when or where you might come into contact with it.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Willow protested. “It seems to like civil rights rallies and the like. We could scan the notice boards for anything like that. It would be the most likely place to come into contact with this demon.”

“True. I should have considered that since that’s what you’ve been tracking. Angel, you said it had a smell.”

Angel leaned toward the screen. “Like a Victorian funeral, all lilies and rot.”

“That is echoing in my head,” Giles said. “I’m not sure why. It’s something I think I’ve heard in the past but not in a long time.”

“We’ll take any hint we can get,” Buffy said. 

“I’ll get on the research end of things here. I’ll email whether or not I find anything,” he promised.

“Same here,” Willow said. Once she ended Zoom, she opened a data base for Buffy. “Here, you tackle this.”

“Thanks.”

Being able to search for key words made Buffy feel like she was making more progress than jumping from picture to picture. She came across something that looked promising. She pulled it into a word document but as she read further she didn’t think it was quite right. Incorporeal yes, but it liked kids. She labeled the file a maybe.

“Hey, how about this?” Willow pushed a fat tome covered in leather and was that purple velvet? “They’re called Iahyndle Watters, from some dimension called Niveyis. It says it’s an emotion feeder in part and it can go into people and has been known to eat them from the inside out physically.”

Taking the book, Angel skimmed the page. “That fits what I saw.” 

“Does it have a physically form?” Buffy asked hopefully.

Willow pulled a lemony face. “No but it can be bound to inanimate objects and destroyed from there. It’s not that unlike binding your soul, Angel.”

“Not a comfortable analogy, Willow.” Angel exchanged a look with Buffy.

“Sorry.” She shrugged. “I guess from your point of view it wouldn’t be. From mine, it’s comforting. I know how to do that spell well. It should only take a few tweaks to do it for this creature. I don’t want to do what we did with Eyghon and send it inside you.”

Angel scowled and Buffy mirrored his expression. “I’d prefer not to ever do that again if I can avoid it. Like I said, this thing seemed a bit too intelligent for that anyhow.”

“Does that book say anything more about the Iahyndle Watters, Wills?”

“That they are drawn to darker emotions which again tracks. If they were eating happy emotions, we’d probably find them stalking weddings or something. If we’re right about this demon stirring up the hot emotions at protests, it could easily be an Iahyndle Watters.”

“What happens once it’s bound?” Angel asked. “How do we destroy it?”

“It looks like we just destroy the object. Buffy, let me have the computer back. I’m going to do a search to see if it’s as easy as that and contact Giles again. In the meanwhile, why don’t you and Angel keep looking for alternative possibilities?”

“Sounds good,” she said even though it really didn’t. 

After another hour of work, neither she nor Angel found a more likely demon that could be behind this. Willow uncovered nothing new. Apparently the Iahyndle Watters were uncommon. She put out some emails to Giles and a few other Watcher and witch friends to see if anyone had a different source on the demon.

Content they had done all they could, they moved their bags from the rental car to Angel’s upstairs guest rooms and he retreated to his basement apartment to get a nap. That sounded like a great idea to Buffy, and she snatched an hour of sleep.

When night fell, they had to decide where they’d go first. Boston and the surrounding areas were packed with places to go and plenty of universities, all ripe to stir up emotions. They’d gone through the online meeting boards trying to find some of the most likely ones. 

They decided to stay together because when it came down to it, only Willow had the magic to put the creature into a form they could attack and kill. What good would it do if they tried to cover three events out of the dozens available and only be able to watch from the sidelines? Buffy hated that helpless feeling that overcame her. She wasn’t used to being more or less hamstrung.

They went first to a LGBT rights rally. It was close by and Willow wanted to go for many reasons. Buffy hung back with Angel, letting Willow invest herself in the crowd’s momentum. She wondered what he thought about it, growing up at a time when being gay would have been a near death sentence if anyone found out. She knew he didn’t hold to those outdated ideals. Still, she didn’t ask for his thoughts. Instead, she lost herself in her own head, mulling over past decisions and wondering if she should keep in touch with him again now that they were in each other’s orbits once more or should she let him float away like she did last time?

She would keep him close, she decided, if that’s what he wanted. Maybe she could stay around the Boston area for a while. She’d lived in Cleveland near the Hellmouth for a short time. She knew how cold those winters had been. She could deal with Boston, right? 

Buffy braced herself, seeing Willow hustling back their away. “See it?”

Willow shook her head. “No signs and the tracking spell has picked up nothing.”

“I don’t see any signs of aggression,” Buffy said, but had she been paying close enough attention?

Angel shook his head. “They seem fairly mellow. Maybe we should move on.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Willow said.

“What was next on our agenda?”

“There’s a charity event for the local Black Lives Matters group,” Willow said.

Buffy let her lead the way. They found it to be almost as placid as the LGBT rights rally. No one acted particularly violent or hot-headed. After another hour, and it was starting to get late, they moved onto a Jewish meet up event at a small art gallery. They entered the gallery and started to mingle. The hairs on the back of Buffy’s neck rose as she pretended to study the art. Something was different here. Next to her, she noticed Angel’s shoulders tensing. 

“Do you smell that?” he asked.

“I smell too much perfume and cologne,” she repliedm waving a hand. 

“It’s stronger this way,” he said.

Buffy beckoned to Willow and they followed him. Angel threaded through the wine-drinking crowd. He paused under a painting that looked plucked from a nightmare. His eyes scanned it because art would always call to him, she suspected but the moment flashed by and he was on the move again.

Now she smelled it, the flower and rot combo he had described. Willow’s brow knit as she caught the scent. They tracked it to two men facing off in front of a young woman. Her pale face and wide eyes spoke volumes. Buffy didn’t wait for the others. They didn’t need her to tell them something was wrong.

She wove around a large man who was oblivious, studying the art. She got there just in time to grab one of the young man’s arms as he threw a punch. She yanked him away from the other man and Angel slid between them. The young girl scooted out of range immediately.

“Which one?” Buffy asked as the man tried to jerk from of her grip.

“Let me go, you bitch,” the man she held on to growled.

“What is wrong with you, Josh?” the other young man said. “He’s my friend. I’ve never seen him act like this.”

“Guess that answers my question.” Buffy glanced over at Willow. “Can you do your thing when it’s…well you know.” She inclined her head toward the struggling young man.

Angel grabbed hold of Josh’s other arm. “You might want to let me do this part. Like we said, you’re not immune.”

“What do you think you know, dead thing?” Josh snarled at Angel as Buffy tried to hustle his friend back a few steps.

“I know a lot of things,” Angel said, not letting on they were fairly sure what they were dealing with. “I know you can’t hurt me.”

“Do you really think so?” Josh’s eyes rolled back and Buffy watched a dark mist pull out of him like taffy. It had an orange shimmer around it.

Willow chanted something in a language Buffy didn’t know but the thing sailed straight through the wall, a ball of brilliant tangerine light following it. “Dang. Who knew it was that fast?”

Angel lowered Josh to the floor and left him to his friend. They raced out of the building and tried to spot the mist but there was nothing. Willow cast another spell and this time conjured a glowing arrow. It shot off almost too fast to follow. They ran after it. It led them several blocks to the old burying grounds where it dove into the earth.

“Tell me we don’t have to dig up a grave,” Buffy moaned.

“I don’t like your chances of that here,” Angel said. “This isn’t Sunnydale, and this is a historic site. They’ll probably get on us for just being here after dark.”

“Great, then what can we do? Do we think there’s an anchor for that thing somewhere in this graveyard?” Buffy grimaced. 

“I don’t know. I didn’t think it would be able to avoid my spell and I don’t know what we would have done if it wasn’t so easily taunted out by Angel. I can’t bind it to a living person. Well, I could but then…”

Willow didn’t finish her thought. She didn’t have to. They would have to kill a person and that was out of the question. 

“And now we’ve tipped our hand.” Buffy sighed. “Thoughts?”

“I have a few more calls I could make to see if anyone has any ideas,” Willow said. “Maybe I can do that and you two can continue on patrol.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Buffy said. Not a good one but she’d take it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five  
  
She and Angel had continued patrol the night before but came up with nothing, not even a vampire to deal with. Buffy could close her eyes and imagine it was twenty some years before and they were still in Sunnydale with the easy way she and Angel had fallen into conversation. Now that most of the awkwardness had dissipated, it was as if they had never parted. Those little regrets about having let it go on so long still bubbled up but for the most part they had a good night.

She’d even gotten in a good sleep before diving back into it with Willow and Angel in the afternoon. There was a sense that if they didn’t capture this thing and soon, it would simply move on like before and they’d be playing catch up all over again and in a city where they didn’t have someone who knew the lay of the land.

Buffy poured herself some more coffee. “I wish we had time to do something other than this,” she muttered, and they glanced over at her. “I know it’s selfish.”

“Not at all. We do very little else but work. Everyone deserves down time,” Willow countered.

“I know but it’s hard because we both know this a problem that isn’t going to go away and someone else could die while we’re off taking in an art gallery.”

“True. Once this is done, if you’re not racing off after it to a different city, I want you to go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum,” Angel said. “You will love it. Your mother would have too.”

Buffy smiled. It seemed impossible that her mother had been gone for more than two decades now. “Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.”

“There is so much to do and see here in Boston. I hope you can stay at least for a few days. You’re welcome here as long as you two would like to stay.” He gestured around him. “But I know none of us are going to rest easy until we get this demon destroyed.”

“I think we should use Angel as bait,” Willow said, drawing all eyes to her. She rolled her shoulders “The thing seemed to take offense to Angel, and he should be immune to it. All Angel has to do is to keep it distracted so I can cast my spell.”

“I’m fine with that,” he replied.

“Good because I think I’ve put a few improved touches on my spell, though I’m wondering if it can tell who I am just by the feel of my magic or is it using its eyes alone such as it has eyes. I’m trying to determine if I need to disguise myself a little after last night,” Willow said.

“It couldn’t hurt. Did you make any progress on how to get it out of the human it’s in?” Buffy asked. “Besides having Angel call it names?”

“No one was really sure. Our best guess was to either put the host body in danger, which doesn’t seem like the best of plans or to put them to sleep. I have a spell for that.” Willow wriggled her fingers for emphasis.

“Then it seems like my best bet is to keep you protected Willow because if it gets into you, we’re screwed.” Buffy made a face.

“I also had that thought.” Willow nodded. “And I found a couple likely places tonight. There’s the Jewish Women’s Archive that’s having a fundraiser as is the Women Encouraging Empowerment and the Cambridge Women’s Community Action organization. We already know the demon has shown up at Jewish and women’s rights organizations. We’re too short handed to cover everything.”

“We’ll approach it like we did last night, pick one and flow to the others if we’re not having any luck,” Buffy said. Willow was right; they really needed to have more people dealing with this. There were never enough. The whole one girl to save the world thing had always seemed ludicrously unfair to her. The demons had an army. Why should she be on her own?

“That works for me,” Angel said. “Should we bring along something to bind the demon to? We didn’t do that last night.”

“Not a bad idea.”

Buffy agreed to put a plastic travel mug in her weapon’s bag and Willow would do the same. That should work as an anchor for the demon and would be easy enough to destroy. At least most of tonight’s events weren’t on the college campus. Buffy was starting to feel out of place. Yes, students came in all ages but she was starting to feel old surrounded by nineteen-year olds. How had she gotten into her forties? It was probably a record for a Slayer. She’d have to ask Giles once this was over with. She could only hope it was done tonight.

XXX

The Jewish Women’s Archive meeting was a bust after nearly an hour as was the Women Encouraging Empowerment fundraiser. That left them heading back to the Harvard area to catch the tail end of the Cambridge Women’s Community Action organization’s outdoor fundraiser in the park. Buffy had to admit this seemed a likely area because it was so public.

She and Angel stood shoulder to shoulder probably giving off couple’s vibes as they scanned the park. There were a few outliers as far as she was concerned. A small group of young men near a large tree and a busker with a guitar who seemed more interested in the women’s group than he was in playing his music. Buffy kept her eyes on the group of young men until Angel nudged her. He nodded to the busker who was on his feet, heading toward the women’s group with his guitar in hand, holding it more like a baseball bat than an instrument.

“Willow,” Buffy hissed.

Willow turned, brushing back the long blue hair from a wig that Angel supplied. It was probably Faith’s and Buffy didn’t want to know anything more about it. Buffy pointed to the busker before taking off after him, Angel hot on her heels.

Willow screamed out a spell and the dark mist pulled from the busker before he could strike with his weapon. The mist quivered, its edges displaying cantaloupe and blond streaks.Willow gestured to the guitar, something equally easy to break but the thing slipped free of the spell. Buffy tried to put herself between it and the innocent, unsuspecting women as she had done so many times over the years it was second nature. A moment later she remembered it should have been Angel. He was already darting between her and the mist when the realization hit her but it was too late.

The mist slammed into her. Buffy stumbled back, her breath squeezing out of her. The mist iced her insides. Fingers clawed her brain. _No, you don’t. You don’t get me!_ she thought. She was not going to let this thing control her body. She was too strong, too dangerous. If Angel’s demon could fight things out on the inside of him, then damn it, her Slayer powers should be able to do the same.

 _You’re aware of me?”_ The demon’s voice dragged over the inside of her head like a cheese grater. 

_Damn right I am. You picked on the wrong Slayer, buddy._ Alsop, she got the name Alsop.

 _Oh, the things I could do with you._ Alsop chuckled.

Rage filled Buffy. She wanted to kill these women fundraising for their rights. She wanted to rip Angel’s head straight off his neck and drink the fountain of blood that would come with. Even more horrible scenes played over her mind’s eye. Alsop tried to force her to walk, to go after the nearest person. Buffy caught Angel’s eye, saw the worry on his face. 

_Do what Slayers do._ Alsop urged her forward but Buffy remained rooted.

 _Not tonight, you monster. You won’t use me to kill innocent people_. Buffy held firm, battling back the fury building in her.

 _Then I’ll pull you apart from the inside and afterward, I’ll have my way with your friends._ Alsop chuckled inside her, sort of like gas bubbles from the worst sort of indigestion.

 _Try it._ Buffy didn’t think she could force this thing out of her but as she tried to formulate a plan, something shut her mind down. 

She was so sleepy. As hard as Alsop tried to force her to attack, he couldn’t battle against the pure unadulterated exhaustion enveloping her. Buffy fell and Angel caught her, pulling her against his broad chest.

 _No!_ Alsop howled.

It had to be Willow’s spell. Alsop percolated out of her, leaving behind a gross oily slick inside her and such exquisite pain, tears collected in the corners of Buffy’s eyes. A shriek nearly sent her out of her skin but she was still too sleepy to move. Willow’s triumphant cry was equally as loud.

“I have you, Buffy,” Angel said, scooping her up in his arms. “And Willow caught him in the mug. Once we’re out of here, we’ll destroy it.”

She couldn’t answer, Willow’s sleep spell held her fast. The next thing she knew, she was on the couch in Angel’s home. Buffy sat up, groggy and hung over. Angel and Willow were watching TV of all things. When did Angel start watching TV? That had to be Faith’s or Connor’s influence.

“Wills, that spell sucks.” She groaned and stretched.

“I know. It’s like taking way too much melatonin.” Willow offered a lopsided smile. “You okay, Buffy?”

“My head’s full of cotton but otherwise I think I’m fine. He wanted to use me to kill you all.”

“But you fought him to a standstill.” Angel smiled, pride in her shining in his dark eyes.

“You know it.” She managed a faint smile. “Did we kill him?”

“Angel ran the travel mug over with the car several times and then I flooded it with holy water,” Willow bounced in her chair. 

“There was smoke and a scream. After that Willow’s tracker spell found no residual magic so if what little there was in the books was right, the thing is gone,” Angel said.

“And I love the irony of using a Nevertheless She Persists mug to end that thing.” Willow beamed. 

Buffy snorted, rubbing her belly. “It’s fitting. Be sure to put that in the report. Also I am very hungry after that spell. Is that weird?”

“Probably not. I’m sure there are snacks in the kitchen. And don’t you worry I will put that in the report. And you know what this means, right?”

“We won.”

“And we can hit some museums tomorrow. I’m getting a good night’s rest starting now. I want to hit the town as soon as everything opens.” Willow bounced up. She gave them both a little wave and raced upstairs now that she was sure Buffy would be okay post spell.

“I can’t sleep now after that nap.” Buffy chuckled. “Want to show me another of your favorite places to hang out?”

“There’s this Irish pub where there’s always a band or two playing,” Angel suggested without hesitation. He stood and held out a hand to her. “And you can get your snacks there.”

Buffy took it, smiling. For the first time in ages, she felt like she was right where she belonged.

Epilogue

Buffy heard noise downstairs. She had sent Willow off on her own to the Museum of Science. She’d catch up later and they’d do the Freedom Trail together and just be tourists for a few days. Sun streamed through the curtains so Buffy rolled out of bed and pulled on her jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs. She knew it couldn’t be Angel unless he was doing something other than sleeping in the basement and noise traveled horribly in the old house.

Instead, she found Connor in the kitchen cooking up a mass of scrambled eggs, his hair flopped into his eyes as he concentrated. He seemed to be moving lethargically. 

“Hi Connor.”

He jumped and nearly sent the skillet off the burner. “Oh, Buffy. Did I wake you? Sorry. Dad texted to say you and Willow were here. Faith and I just got back from Canada but I’m pretty sure she’s dead to the world.” He pointed to the ceiling.

“Long trip?”

He nodded. “And a nasty demon.”

“Same but we finished it off last night.”

“Good. Want some eggs? I think I’ve made too much.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

They sat, ate, and traded stories about their latest triumphs. Afterward, he went upstairs and she went to the basement. Angel wasn’t asleep, but rather sitting on his couch reading.

“Connor’s back but you probably heard him.”

“He woke me up when he got in. Did you get some rest?”

She nodded. “Last night was a blast. I really enjoyed the music.”

Angel beamed, sitting up. He patted the couch. She sat next to him. “I’m glad. Will you be heading out now?”

Buffy shook her head. “I have plenty of time. I thought I’d spend it with you since you can’t come with us now.”

“There will be things we can do tonight,” he promised her.

Buffy leaned against his shoulder. “What were you reading?”

“Stephen King, 11/22/63.”

Buffy eyed him. “Really?”

“It’s a deal I have with Connor. He reads a classic and I’ll read something he picks. I have to say, I’m actually enjoying this.”

She chuckled. “I can’t believe it but that’s cool. I’m glad you’re letting us stay awhile, Angel.”

He settled his hand over hers, giving it a light squeeze. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

“I’d like to stay a while.” She kissed him. “With you.”

He wrapped an arm around her. “I’d love that.”

“Me too.” Buffy rested against him. For the first time, in far too long, she was home.


End file.
